Patti LuPone Reveals She Auditioned for Cinderella for the Original INTO THE WOODS

In a recent interview with Ben Rimalower for the Broadway Podcast Network's Giants in the Sky: How Sondheim and Lapine went Into the Woods, special guest Patti LuPone revealed that she was almost in the original Broadway cast of Into the Woods.

"Steve and James wanted me to play the witch, and I said, 'But I want to play Cinderella! The witch is so obvious!' So they let me audition for Cinderella and then still offered me the witch! [Laughs]," explained the three-time Tony winner. "Here's the sad part... I had no idea what the role entailed."

She went on to explain that negotiations regarding billing prevented her from joining the cast. "It was especially billing. They said everyone would be below the title and it would be in alphabetical order, and I said 'I don't think so!' And we passed on it... then Bernadette [Peters] got it all. That was incredibly frustrating."

"I didn't know anything about the role, and unfortunately I regret [it], but then I was able to do Anything Goes. And we were that sleeper hit," she added.

Listen to the full interview here.

LuPone will return to Broadway this fall opposite Mia Farrow in the new comedy, The Roommate by Jen Silverman. The production is directed by Jack O’Brien, and will begin performances on Thursday, August 29, with an official opening night of Thursday, September 12, at Broadway’s Booth Theatre (222 W. 45th Street).